Dear Brethren,

Congratulating you on this New Year: 2010, hoping that this year would be a blessing to our spiritual and practical lives, and also a blessing to our families and our beloved ones.

And the month of January – according to the rites of the church – coincides with the months of Kiahk and Tubah, that carry many church occasions, which is useful to identify:

v   January 7^th (Kiahk 29^th): the Nativity feast.

v   January 14^th (Tubah 7^th): Circumcision feast: in which our Lord Jesus Christ completed the law developed by the Lord to circumcise all males of the children of Israel as a sign of the covenant between Him and Abraham and all his descendants after that. And circumcision was a symbol of baptism as the Apostle Paul pointed out: “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ. buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him” (Co2: 11-12).

v   January 19^th (Tubah 11^th): the Epiphany feast, one of the major feasts of our Lord. The baptism of our Lord was an important announcement of:

1-     The Holy Trinity revealed on this day during His baptism, and that’s why this feast is called “Epiphany” meaning the Divine declaration.

2-     Jesus who was born of the Virgin Mary and called by that name, is the “Messiah” anointed by the Holy Spirit to complete the service of salvation.

3-     The beginning of Christ’s salvation ministry, preaching repentance to the people for repentance.

v      January 21^st (Tubah 13^th): the feast of the wedding of Cana of Galilee which witnesses the first miracle of our Lord Jesus turning water into wine, through the intercession and request of the Virgin Mary.

v   January 25^th (Tubah 17^th): the start of Jonah’s fast this year.

Reminding you that the Nativity mass will start on Wednesday the 6^th of January at 7:30 p.m., the offering of the lamb at 8:45 p.m. If you plan to take communion, abstain from food starting 3:30 p.m.. As usual our Sunday School party will be at 11:00 a.m. on Christmas day.

Asking you to remember the church, its priest, servants and all its services always in your prayers, may the blessings of St. Mary and St. Mercurius and the blessings of the New Year and Nativity be with us always Amen

Fr. Youssef Halim

Belleville, January 1, 2010

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